A Yogi Within Community Group

Learn how to balance the mind body and soul through good overall health. We talk about Self-realization Diet Exercise Breathing and Personal strengths of mind spirit and body. Share experiences and motivation to be the Best YOU.

Who inspired you to practice?

Is there an article you read, a class you attended, a DVD or book you saw? What started your journey. I actually saw a book by Baron Baptiste called 'Journey Into Power'. I was walking through Barnes and Noble, on my way to the restroom, and his book happened to catch my eye. That was about 8 years ago. I picked it up and took it to the Starbucks cafe upstairs and started paging through it. He was so accessible and easy to understand. I bought 2 of his DVD's that went with the book and started practicing. It was the beginning of my journey. I've had many inspiring people cross my path since but he was the first person to light the fire. Anyone care to share?

In 1973 I participated with a high school after school activity sponsored by the PE Department. I think it got me out of more demanding sports, so I tried it. I saw several Lilia&#039;s PBS broadcasts in the mid 70&#039;s and in 1978 I watched Richard Hittleman over the summer session when I was in college, and got hooked. I went tot he Los Angeles Public Library and read everything I could comprehend. I had a great teacher at the L.A. Pierce College in 1978-80. He really was trained, and he was an amazing teacher, really inspirational. We had a great collection of kids who are now leaders in various Yoga Schools, including Iyengar and Kundalini and Ashtanga, as well as the amazing experience of Los Angeles and Hollywood in the Yoga Community... It was a magical time...

That sounds like it would be magical. Many really great teachers came out of California. It&#039;s interesting. I don&#039;t believe it was as quick to catch on on the East Coast but maybe I&#039;m wrong about that.

no you are right, it was not as established in New York, as early, mainly, because the California &quot;type&quot; vs the New York attitude. What evolved in LA/Hollywood/ Beverly Hills and then Santa Monica was the root of 20th Century Yoga. I lived just up the road from the national centers of any style of modern yoga. Everyone was there to study and learn, and teach!

New Yorkers got into the Ashtanga/ Athletic about the same time you found your tape.

Baptiste become the first &#039;power yoga guru&#039;. He&#039;s Boston but that&#039;s still East Coast. I&#039;m always interested when people say it a hybrid of Ashtanga. It&#039;s ENTIRELY different from Ashtanga. Most of the time you don&#039;t do a series of poses as you would in Ashtanga. Actually it&#039;s difficult for me to tell the difference between a Vinyasa/flow class and a Power Yoga class. I think I&#039;ve done way more chaturangas in Vinyasa/Flow than I&#039;ve ever done in a power yoga class. Interesting...

I temember the Baptiste story. The parents had the kids in San Francisco and they were like the original yoga school. He was in the Santa Monica area teaching in the 80&#039;s. He was associated with Ana Forrest, rather that Yoga Works.

The Ashtanga was not really associate as Power Yoga until 1995 with Beryhl B Birch. Her Primary series book has that as the title.

I think many times people make up a strenuous routine and sell it as power yoga. The whole Yoga Alliance thing made it into an industry.

In Los Angeles we had a fusion of many powerful and authentic yoga schools and styles. In the 70&#039;s and 80&#039;s The Center for Yoga on Larchmont, which I think is now Yoga works, was the place we put the vinyasa style into Hatha. Ganga has his own version of Ashtanga, and everyone was developing themselves, and all sorts of people like the Who&#039;sWho of Yoga were just starting to train and evolve. by the mid 80&#039;s people discovered Pattabhi Jois&#039;s style and by the late 80&#039;s Yoga works offered Mysore style practice, along with Iyengar and Viniyoga. During that time Shiva, Seane, Brian Keist and all developed and Power Yoga was the Buzz term, because people were not educated in sweaty yoga, and they all thought that yoga was a non workout. then they got a good bit and then with the help of brian keist videos, many gym professionals learned the routine and got the quickie training, and now it is the way it is.

My yoga teacher &amp; doctor, Dr. Renu Mathani, introduced me to The Secret in April 2007. Since then I have read the book several times. I was faced with a life threatening disease &acirc;?? Alcoholism &acirc;?? when I first read the book. I was doing everything in my power to try and control my alcohol intake but was failing miserably. I was not ready to accept the simple fact that I was an alcoholic &amp; I would have to give up drinking completely in order to survive. However I was practicing the principles of The Secret and believed that they would help me find a way out. However I was not clear as to what I exactly wanted.

My parents put me in a rehabilitation center in June 2008, where I spent 3 months. This was the first time I was forced into abstinence from alcohol. And guess what?! My fellow patient was reading The Secret and it was given to him by his brother. In the rehabilitation center I read the book many times, made notes. I wanted the Law Of Attraction to give me an alcohol-free life. And the full universe conspired to help me. I asked clearly what I wanted &acirc;?? a life without alcohol; I believed that I would have it; and am receiving it.

I was discharged from the rehabilitation center on 6th September 2008. I have been practicing the 12 steps of Alcoholic Anonymous.

I go for Dr. Renu Mathani&acirc;??s yoga classes every day. I am very grateful to her for introducing me to the book. I firmly believe that it was because of the Law Of Attraction that I am living a sober life today.

My life has changed completely since I asked the universe for a sober life. I was very clear as to what I wanted. This is the essence of it all &acirc;?? clarity of thought. And you will get what you ask for.

Thank You &acirc;?? Rhonda Byrne!

By,
Sumit Lal

About Sumit Lal from Pune, India:

My name is Sumit. I am an alcoholic. I am 31 years old, male, unmarried from India. It took 15 years of alcoholism and finally The Secret for me to accept the fact that I am an alcoholic.

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